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Tag Archives: Vegetarians

Why are people so concerned about what other people eat? Why don’t they just eat and let other people eat what they want? Why do they have to interrupt you while you are satisfying your taste buds with the food you like? Why do I have to explain my fellow Nepali friends about my beef eating habit? Why do they treat me like a beast when I reveal my liking for beef?

Last night I went out with my friends to Texas Steakhouse. There was this new guy that my friend had invited to dinner. He seemed like a quiet guy until I ordered steak. I don’t usually order steak but it was Texas Steakhouse. I couldn’t help it. I mean you don’t order chowmein when you go to a momo pasal. After I ordered steak the new guy turned to me and asked, “Why do you eat beef?” Suddenly this quiet guy wasn’t so quiet. As much as I was annoyed by his question I said, “I ate beef as soon as I landed in US. It was an accident but after that I just don’t differentiate between the types of meat I eat”. He was not satisfied with my answer and with a sarcastic tone he said, “Oh, I understand! People are so Americanized these days. They forget their culture and the place where they come from. It’s not just you I know many people like you.” I just wanted to eat. I was not in the mood for a discussion. And whatever the fuck that meant when he said “Americanized”. I hate it when people say that. But I smiled and said, “Well, people are not as cultured as you are.” I could tell by his face that he was not done with the discussion. He obviously had planned to ruin my dinner.

I was about to eat when he again interrupted me and asked if I would eat dog’s meat. I laughed and said no. Then he went on about why would I differentiate between the meat now. It was such a ridiculous question. I thought to myself for a while. And then I just blurted out these points below:

I never had a cow as my pet.

I have had dogs as my pet.

I have never named a cow in my whole life.

I have named my dogs.

A cow never welcomed me home when I got back.

My dogs always welcomed me when I got home. They seemed so happy.

I was chased by a cow with pointed horns when I was a kid.

After I unleashed the beef eating beast in me he laughed. Then he carried on with his food and turned back to the quiet guy again. I remember when I was a kid; every Dashain, a goat was brought home 15 days prior to the festival. My brother and I would feed the goat for 15 days and would treat it as a pet. The whole Dashain we wouldn’t eat the meat because we knew the goat. Since, we both never ate meat during the whole festival; my parents stopped bringing the goat to perform the sacrifice ritual. So, my point is that I think I can eat animals with which I don’t have any sentimental values.